Appeals court allows partial implementation of Louisiana's Ten Commandments law

(The Center Square) — The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted a motion on Friday to block a lower district court's decision that would have temporarily prevented a law regarding the display of the Ten Commandments in schools from being enforced statewide.

The appellate court paused the district court's broader injunction, allowing the law to proceed, at least in areas not directly involved in the legal challenge.

The appeal on U.S. District Judge John deGravelles' preliminary injunction for the plaintiffs' school districts is still active.

"I look forward to immediately working with all of our school boards who are not involved in this lawsuit to implement the law soon," Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said in a statement on X.

The law, signed by Gov. Jeff Landry earlier this year, requires public schools to prominently display the Ten Commandments in classrooms by Jan. 1.

DeGravelles had issued a preliminary injunction last week, calling the law "discriminatory and coercive" and likely unconstitutional. The judge cited parallels to the 1980 Supreme Court case Stone v. Graham, which struck down a similar Kentucky law for violating the First Amendment.

Murrill, a vocal defender of the law, celebrated the appellate court's decision to block the statewide injunction, stating, "We strongly disagree with the lower court's ruling. School boards are independently elected, and we look forward to working with districts not involved in this lawsuit to implement the law."

While the 5th Circuit's ruling allows the state to work with unaffected school boards to display the Ten Commandments, the legal battle is far from over.

The injunction remains in effect for school districts directly involved in the lawsuit and a final decision on the law's constitutionality will likely have broader implications for the separation of church and state.

The plaintiffs are from five school districts — Orleans, East Baton Rouge, Livingston, Vernon and St. Tammany parishes.

The state's appeal argued that the law could be implemented in a way that preserves constitutional rights, framing the Ten Commandments as a historical, rather than religious, artifact.

However, opponents, including the plaintiffs in the case, say the law violates students' rights to religious freedom by promoting a particular faith in public schools.